9-7-19 - (Day 45 - Chief Joseph Highway/Yellowstone)

It was a beautiful, sunny morning.  The forecast for Yellowstone today was sunny skies with very little chance of rain.  We loaded up on Amber and headed back to Chief Joseph Highway.

By the time we got to Dead Indian Pass, the temperature dropped to 54 degrees.  It was nice riding in the sunshine with our jackets on.

About half way across Chief Joseph Highway, it got cloudy.  We thought it wouldn't be that bad because we were descending in elevation. The temperature continued to drop to 51 degrees.  We stopped and put on our neck warmers, which we pulled up over our nose and ears.  Lauren turned on the heated hand grips and I put on gloves.  We have been carrying gloves and neck warmers since we were rode to Independence Pass last month and this was the first time we needed them.  The scenery was still gorgeous, even though it was cloudy and cold.

We entered the Northeast entrance of Yellowstone.  Shortly after entering Lamar Valley, the herds of buffalo were everywhere.  We had to wait for them to get out of the road. The vehicle in front of us, lolly gagged around, admiring the beasts, as we were within a few feet of them.  One of the bulls was snorting and hissing as we passed by.  I took a picture, (or lots of pictures), praying that we didn't get charged.

We asked the ranger at the entrance gate, where we might see the gray wolves.  He told us where and said that the best time to see them was at 6 am.  We got lucky today around noon and saw 2 of them.

We got just a little glimpse of sun through the clouds as we ate our lunch at a pullout.  Another biker rode by and told us there was a bear 3 miles up the road.  By the time we got there, the bear had moved on.

We saw many more buffalo and an antelope as we traveled along.  Then we stopped to see the Trumpeter Swans.  They are another beautiful water fowl.

We saw another big gathering of folks, and saw a Great Gray Owl.  He looked like a rock in the tall grass.

The cold wind was blowing at camp, so we stayed inside tonight.  We were tired of being cold.  We had pork loin, greens, and cornbread for supper.  We were in much need of warm comfort food.


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9-6-19 - (Day 44 - Columbus/RedLodge/Beartooth Highway)

We looked at the weather forecast this morning.  We saw there was a 40% chance of rain today, which to us meant, we had a 60% chance of no rain.  We loaded up on Amber and headed out.  We turned around on the other side of Cody when we got in light rain showers. We relocated all our stuff to the truck and went on our way.

Our first stop was to check out our next potential boondocking spot.  It is a free camping area along the Yellowstone River.  It will be a good spot if we decide to go that way when we leave Cody.

We drove through the touristy town of Red Lodge then on to Beartooth Highway.  Beartooth Highway was as gorgeous as the last time we were there.  We pulled over and ate lunch looking at the snow capped mountains.

After our stop at the lookout, we realized we made the right decision to go in the truck.  We got in wind, rain, and the temperature dropped to 41 degrees.  Definitely. not any fun on a motorcycle.  Although it was raining with decrease visibility, it was still a gorgeous ride.

We continued on Chief Joseph Highway then back to camp.  Chief Joseph Highway views were also fantastic.

When we got back to camp, the cloud cover had not allowed our camper batteries to charge.  Not a problem, we cranked up the the generator to charge the batteries on the camper.  I also cooked and vacuumed while the generator was running.  The first time we have had to charge the batteries with the generator on this trip.

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9-5-19 (Day 43 - Buffalo Bill State Park North Shore)

We slept pretty good in the Sam's parking lot, right off I 25. Thanks to my old sound machine that I used when I worked nights.

Or,  it could have been, we traveled about 300 miles, slept at Avalanche Harley Davidson parking lot the night before, and was awake most of the night listening to their music, is the reason we slept so good last night.


We were all pleasantly surprised when we traveled Wind Tunnel Canyon.  It was gorgeous.  So gorgeous, that Ferny Kat got up from her nap and admired the view.

After about 300 miles. we are at our destination for a few days.  We are camped up on the hill overlooking the Buffalo Bill Reservoir.  We have no hookups, and are paying $25 a night.  Quite pricey for us.

Ferny Kat loves her new spot.  She came out a couple of time, stalked a Magpie, and is sure she won the stalking.

We unloaded Amber and took her on a couple hour ride.  After all it has been a week since we rode her.

We finished the night with a full belly of pork loin and the fixings. We plan to ride to Red Lodge. Montana tomorrow.

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9-4-19 - (Day 42 - Leaving Colorado)

It was a jamming night, lot docking at Harley Davidson.  They leave their music on night and day. We slept hard, woke up, heard the music, thought about the lyrics, then went back to sleep.  This was our on and off sleep cycle last night.

We had Amber loaded and were off by 10:30 am, (a lot poorer),  but, she is worth it. You gotta pay to play!

We thought we would go a couple or so hours to a free campsite at Lewis Park. The free electrical sites were taken.  We could have boon docked there, but, we decided to go on.

I was in frantic mode, as much as I love being spontaneous, every campsite I found was $40 - $50.  This is not why we have solar.

About 4 1/2 hours later, and 294 miles, we are lot docking at Sam's Club in Evansville, Wyoming.  We have a nice spot, with a rock garden.

We did some shopping at Sam's and took a long walk to eat at a Chinese buffet for dinner.

When we returned to camp, we sat outside, watching the traffic and birds.  Ferny Kat was skeptical at first, then out she came.

It was in the 90's today.  Time to crank up the generator and cool off the camper, just in time for bedtime.  This is the first time we have had on our a/c in a long time.  Just saying!


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9-3-19 - (Day 41 - Amber Repair)

We left Granby this morning at 8:45 am.  It was a beautiful ride across Berthoud Pass and I 70.

We pulled into Avalanche Harley Davidson in Golden, Colorado and checked Amber in before 11 am.  We were told we would have a diagnostic eval in an hour.  A couple hours later, we checked and they had not diagnosed yet.  4 1/2 hours later, we checked and they were gone to pick up the part.  7 1/2 hours later, we again checked, and they were in the midst of replacing the water pump.  Mega bucks later and a guesstimate of it will be ready about 10 am tomorrow.   Needless to say we are lot parking for the night.  We may not get much sleep because they have the music jamming.

While we were waiting today, we both got a much needed haircut.

They unloaded 17 new Harley's from an 18 wheeler today.  A pretty impressive operation.

Ferny Kat is happy, she has asphalt and grass.  It is one of the most expensive campsites we have ever had.  Glad she approves.

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9-1-19 & 9-2-19 - (Day 39 & 40 - Hanging around Granby)

Sunday, Pam and I went shopping in Denver.  It is a very scenic ride over the Berthoud Pass then straight down hill for about 20 miles. The vehicles leaving Denver heading toward the mountains were bumper to bumper.

Our first stop was IKEA.  This was quite the shopping experience.  They had lots of home furnishings to choose from and lots of people shopping for them.  Two hours of shopping passes by fast in this store. We made a stop at Home Depot and Walmart then headed back to Granby.

Lauren, Chuck, and Sophie, went loafing today.  They fished a little bit.  Lauren caught his first, (little), brook trout.  They rode around in the Gore Pass area and came back on Trough Road.  They saw lots of pretty scenery.

It was another great night for the propane campfire with clear skies.

Monday, Lauren and I went to Arapaho National Wildlife Refuge.  The visitor's center was closed on this Labor Day.  We enjoyed the 1/2 mile walking trail, then drove the auto tour.  We saw all kinds of birds, ducks, white pelicans, and cows.  On our way back to Granby, we saw 6 Sandhill Cranes foraging in a pasture. The Crane Whisperer's still got it!

We grilled ribs and sat outside and enjoyed another gathering around the fire pit.


Pictures 9-1

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8-29-19 - 8-31-19 - (Day 36, 37, & 38 - Hanging Around Granby)

Thursday, we hung around camp today.  I washed clothes, Lauren gave Chuck a hand with his counter top installation.  We grilled chicken for dinner, watched a movie, (or at least slept through a movie), and called it a day.

Friday, Lauren helped Chuck finish up the counter tops.  I pretty much did nothing today.  We grilled burgers then played Sequence, a fun board game, with Pam and Chuck until after 11 pm.  The first time we have been up this late in a long time.

Saturday, Lauren spent the morning planning our next move.  Looks like we will head toward Denver to get Amber repaired on Tuesday morning.

Chuck rode with us through Old Fall River Road in RMNP.  It is a 9 mile, one way, curvy, dirt road going up to the Alpine Visitor's Center from the east side of the park.  There was an abundance of vehicles hurrying through to get to the other side.  Note to self, next time don't go on this road on a holiday weekend.

It was very pretty, especially when we got about a mile from the visitor's center.  We saw a couple of deer and a Raven on the ride through. 

We also saw elk and moose on the Trail Ridge Road.

We ate Alaska Salmon for dinner tonight that Pam and Chuck caught this summer and it sure was good.  We sat outside by the propane fire pit watching the pretty stars in the sky and was in bed shortly after 9 pm.


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